Rourkela/Bhubaneswar: One more Maoist was shot dead in a fierce gun battle with security forces during a joint combing operation inside Chandiposh forest area on Rourkela-Jharkhand border late on Wednesday night.
Giving a detailed account of the encounter at a press briefing in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, Director General of Police K B Singh said of the two Maoists killed during encounter one has been identified as Sangram, platoon commandant of Saranda Sub Division in Jharkhand.
He said acting on a tip-off from reliable sources about the movement of the Maoists, the Odisha Police along with the CRPF, SOG and DVF personnel had launched a joint combing operation inside Surakhol hill forest under Chandiposh police limits on Tuesday. The operation was carried out by three units of SOG (Special Operation Group) and one unit each of CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and DVF (District Voluntary Force).
“During the operation, two Maoists including Sangram were killed in encounter while the security personnel seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition from inside the forest including four .303 rifles, 284 rounds of live bullets, four grenades, gelatine sticks and camp equipments like Maoist literatures, uniforms etc”, Singh added.
It is worthwhile to mention here that the security personnel had also gunned down one ultra early on Wednesday during the combing operation inside the forest.
“The combing operation in the area is on since there is every possibility that some Maoists might have been injured in the encounter. Considering the seizure of huge cache of arms and ammunition and specific intelligence input, we have come to know that the Maoists had targeted the ensuing panchayat elections in Jharkhand and had planned to launch an attack from their camps based in Odisha”, IG, Western Range, RK Sharma told OTV in Rourkela.